Ultrasound imaging apparatus used in the past for diagnosis include an optical coherent tomography (OCT) apparatus (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-14514) and also an optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) apparatus utilizing wavelength sweep, which is an improvement over optical coherent tomography apparatus for diagnosing before operation, at the time of treatment inside a blood vessel depending on a high functional catheter such as a stent and the like, or to conform a result after an operation. Hereinafter, in the present specification, the ultrasound imaging apparatus for diagnosis, the optical coherent tomography (OCT) apparatus and the optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) apparatus utilizing wavelength sweep will be generically referred to as “imaging apparatus for diagnosis”.
For example, in performing diagnosis before an operation, that is before a stent is indwelled, to select and determine the length of the stent to be indwelled, the position at which the stent is indwelled or the like, imaging apparatus for diagnosis are used for measuring the length of the lesion region which becomes the treatment target. Also, to confirm results after the stent is indwelled, imaging apparatus for diagnosis are used to confirm whether or not the indwelled stent covers the desired lesion region.
As a result of the fact that the imaging apparatus for diagnosis has come to be used for such an application, it has been found in recent years that there are many cases in which restenosis after indwelling the stent occurs from the stent edge. Consequently, for example, situations arise in some guidelines in which there is presented a treatment guideline aiming for 50% or less as the plaque ratio at the stent edge on the occasion of the stent indwelling.
Based on such a matter, in the case of the imaging apparatus for diagnosis used in the manner mentioned above, it is desirable to employ a construction which is realized as a constitution in which the situation (sectional image) inside the blood vessel of the portion at which the stent edge is positioned after the indwelling can be relatively easily referred to or understood and also, the length of the stent to be indwelled, the position of the stent to be indwelled or the like can be selected and determined.
In case of a conventional imaging apparatus for diagnosis, it is known to employ an arrangement in which a plurality of cross-sectional images which were imaged continuously in an axial direction are displayed (reproduced) one by one on a display screen in accordance with the imaged order. Consequently, it is easy to grasp the situation inside a blood vessel at a desired position, but it is not necessarily easy for a user to grasp the situation (cross-sectional image) inside the blood vessel at the aforesaid position from the viewpoint of the plaque-ratio confirmation at the portion where the stent edge is positioned after indwelling the stent.
In fact, until now, a user has grasped the situation inside the blood vessel in the portion where the stent edge is positioned by displaying a plurality of cross-sectional images sequentially on the display screen while repeating fast-forwarding/rewinding and suitably changing the position in the axial direction, and so it cannot be said that the work-operation efficiency was excellent. Consequently, in an imaging apparatus for diagnosis, there has been requested an offer of a user interface suitable for the use application.